Poto?nik hails French university reform

The EU research commissioner has urged EU member states to follow the French example of university reform and implement the EU executive’s recommendations on modernising the European higher education system.

“I welcome the ambition of France towards its universities and – through the upcoming EU Presidency – towards those of Europe,” said Janez Poto?nik, addressing the colloquium of the French Conference of University Presidents (CPU) on 4 April 2008. 

He said that the new French law granting more liberties and responsibilities to universities was a clear demonstration of France’s Europe-wide aspirations and “a response to the many hurdles identified by the Commission in recent years, and where we have called on the member states and universities to act”.

The French university reform is “an example to Europe as a whole” on how to modernise European universities by giving them more autonomy to manage their teaching, research, innovation and knowledge transfer missions, the commissioner said. 

Thus far, French plans to implement EU recommendations on higher education reform have attracted the opposition of students, university staff and the French association of researchers. All fear that state disengagement could lead to excessive private-sector influence over higher education curricula and unequal development of universities. 

Responding to these concerns, the French research and higher education minister Valérie Pécresse has said earlier that “our stance begins to be understood as students and universities see that we have put a lot of public money on the table to improve the quality of bachelor degrees, university real estate and facilities for students”. 

Addressing the CPU on 4 April, Minister Pécresse pledged to grant €250,000 to those universities to move towards autonomy by 1 January 2009.